1961 Topps #303 Gary Peters
About Gary Peters
Peters was still a Triple-A pitcher when this card was printed. He spent 1960 with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League, finishing 12-9, then got a September look with the White Sox that came to two relief appearances and one run allowed in 3 1/3 innings. He went back to San Diego in 1961, went 13-10, and was called up again that September. Card #303 belongs to the set's fourth series.
Gary Peters was a left-handed pitcher who spent parts of eleven seasons with the Chicago White Sox, from a September debut in 1959 through 1969, and then pitched three years for the Boston Red Sox. Born in Grove City, Pennsylvania in 1937, he came out of a high school that did not field a baseball team and spent 1956 through 1962 in the White Sox farm system, unable to hold a big-league job through four brief call-ups. An emergency start in May 1963 changed everything: he went 19-8 with a league-leading 2.33 ERA and won the American League Rookie of the Year award. He tied for the league lead with 20 wins in 1964, led the AL in ERA again at 1.98 in 1966, and was an All-Star in 1964 and 1967. He was also a real hitting threat, batting .222 lifetime with 19 home runs, four of them as a pinch-hitter. A back injury in 1968 and an arm injury the following spring ended his best years. He finished 124-103 with a 3.25 ERA and 1,420 strikeouts, was named to the White Sox All-Century Team in 2000, and died in Sarasota, Florida in 2023.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 274 | 1 | 17 | 106 | 102 | 27 | 12 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. PSA counts are straight grades only; PSA half grades (PSA 1.5 among them) and qualified slabs are not included. SGC half grades fold down (8.5→8). Slabs of the two cards printed #463 are joined by description, never by number alone.
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Related cards
Team card: #7 Chicago White Sox Team
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- #90 Jerry Staley
- #124 J.C. Martin
- #132 Al Lopez
- #152 Earl Torgeson
- #157 Cal McLish
- #170 Al Smith
- #185 Herb Score
- #205 Bill Pierce
- #227 Juan Pizarro
- #247 Billy Goodman
- #271 Jim Landis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #303 card?
It is card #303 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Gary Peters of the Chicago White Sox.
How many cards are in the 1961 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 596 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 589, but #426, #587 and #588 were never issued and two different cards were printed #463 - Jack Fisher and the Milwaukee Braves Team card, catalogued 463b - and eight cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-05.